We still have plenty of work ahead of us on our 1970 Honda CB350, but the project’s turning a corner, quickly shifting from the disassembly and discovery phase to refurbishment, reassembly and the promise of a finished bike.

The big excitement of late was getting our wheels back from Buchanan’s Spoke & Rim. As mentioned a few reports back, we originally planned on new replica rims, but when Robert Buchanan suggested keeping the original D.I.D. rims if we could, we took his advice, going with just a relace with new Buchanan’s stainless steel spokes and nipples. The completed wheels look excellent, so we spooned on the new Avon Roadrider tires, then hung the front and rear suspensions in place so we could mount the wheels and have something approximating a rolling chassis. Suddenly, it’s starting to look like a motorcycle again.

We finally made progress on cleaning the engine, the magic formula being simply more elbow grease and a whole lot of green Scotchbrite pads combined with regular doses of Oil Eater degreaser, a non-toxic cleaner that, we discovered, works really well. With light at the end of the tunnel, we switched tracks and fit the new clutch plates and springs we got from Barnett Clutches & Cables. Given our bike’s supposedly low mileage, with 8,124 miles showing on the odometer, we weren’t surprised to find the original plates still had plenty of meat on them. What was a surprise was the compression sag in the original clutch springs; they were at least a 0.25-inch shorter than the replacement springs. They might have worked, but chances are good we would have ended up with a dragging clutch if we’d left them in place.

Before the tires went on we installed new All Balls wheel bearing kits from Dennis Kirk, front and rear. The kits come complete with seals, including a few we didn’t use as the kits fit multiple Honda applications. Replacing the bearings is an easy process, made easier by gently heating the hubs with a heat gun before driving the old bearings out and tapping the new ones in. The new rear sprocket from Dime City Cycles is in place. There’s still work to do before we can put the engine back in the frame, but suddenly, it’s not that far off.

Still to come

The gas tank, side covers, headlamp brackets and fork covers have been shipped to Marbles Motors, where they’ll get stripped, prepped and painted Candy Gold/White, one of three colors available for 1970, the others being Candy Ruby Red/White and Candy Green/White.

Moving into the reassembly phase has us taking stock of all the little items we still need to replace or renew. There are more than a few missing bolts and fittings, and we’re looking for a good chrome shop to replate the brake, shift and clutch levers, the fork bridge and a few other minor items. Even so, it’s starting to come together, and by next issue we expect to have made a lot more forward progress. Stay tuned. MC

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